Expect Speedy Declaration Of Elections Results – INEC Assures Nigerians
BY EDMOND ODOK – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured Nigerians that there will be speedy declaration of today’s presidential election results unlike events of the past where the process witnessed delay unduly.
The Commission Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who gave the assurance at a media briefing in Abuja on Friday, said adequate plans are already in place to speed up the process of declaring this year’s presidential result.
This is against the backdrop of the 2019 experience where it took the electoral umpire more than two days to officially declare President Muhammadu Buhari as winner of the presidential poll.
According to the INEC Chairman; “I just want to say that we will ensure it (result declaration) will be done speedily. I can’t put a finger on the number of days or number of hours it will take, but it will be done speedily.
“We are aware of the anxiety and the need for us to conclude the process quickly. It will be concluded quickly”.
Further assuring that the process will not suffer any encumbrance despite the current cash scarcity as a result of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Naira redesign policy, Yakubu said; “It is not all our operations that are paid for by cash.
“In fact, the bulk of our procurement for both goods and services is done electronically.
“But we need a small amount of money to pay for the un-banked who render critical services, particularly at the local level.”
He said the Commission had made alternative plans to address the emerging challenge; explaining thus; “We anticipated this challenge and interacted with the Central Bank; they promised us that the little amount we need to pay for services in cash, they will make the funds available to us and they have done so.
“And these funds have already been accessed by our state offices for elections, which is why the movement of personnel and materials in the last couple of days has gone on unhindered.”
The INEC Boss said Nigerians should rest assured that “The process won’t suffer any encumbrance as a result” of the biting Naira crunch, adding that credit goes to the Commission’s existing robust relationship with the Central Bank in that regard.
On the nationwide distribution of sensitive electoral materials, Yakubu expressed satisfaction that the process was going on seamlessly with the movement of items to the various locations around the country.
“Having deployed these materials to the Local Government Areas, we are today (Friday) devolving the deployment to the Registration Area Centers (RACs) so that early morning tomorrow (Saturday) the polls will open as planned.
“These RACs have been activated and election duty staff have started arriving in them”, he said
